Unknown to Others
by Zombie Brains
Summary: Some people think that Kaiba can't love. And sometimes he thinks he can't as well. But is that really true?


Disclaimer: I don't own Yuugioh… the characters… the Millennium Puzzle… and all that nonsense. This is not only an important story for the rest of the stories I write, but it's a birthday present for my best friend, who loves Seto Kaiba. This is friendship stuff. Nothing more, nothing less. Get your minds out of the gutter. Ho hum… you better appreciate this! Happy birthday.

**Unknown to Others**

People think that I can't love. Sometimes I think that maybe that's true. I've been so cruel to people who've done nothing more then try to show me love and compassion. But I wonder…. If I'm so bad, why does Mokuba love me so much?

I've protected Mokuba since Father died in that wreck. Mother died giving birth to Mokuba. I protected him from the children who picked on Mokuba at the orphanage. I protected him from Gozzaboro, that monster…. Though I think he knew that if ever touched one hair on Mokuba's head, I would tear him limb from limb.

Gozzaboro may have made me like him, but Mokuba will be kind. He is already a better person than I am and ever was. He's going to be a nice person… like Yuugi.

Why does Mokuba look up to me though? I just don't understand. I don't deserve him…

It was lunch. I had no friends so I didn't go to the lunchroom. I didn't need to be exiled anymore than I already was. So I went outside to eat. I sat under the same cherry tree everyday.

It was sunny and breezy today. I sat slowly typing stats and percentages on my laptop. I looked up, my eyes sore from looking at the computer screen for so long. I saw what I least I wanted to at that moment. Yuugi and his friends marching down the hill where the bunch of trees I sat at was. His pendant he wore around his neck was glinting in the sunlight. They were bickering loudly.

"Tea!" Joey called, his brown eyes flashing angrily. "I don't see why we had to leave!"

"Yeah!" His friend Tristan said, "the whole cafeteria was doing the food fight! No one would have known we'd thrown stuff!"

"Not true." Yuugi said, clutching his pendant, which seemed to be glowing slightly. "He would have chewed me out all day. About rules and following them for a reason and other nonsense."

"Yes." Tea said, pompously. "And I have a spotless record and I don't want to ruin it by being involved with delinquent actions."

"And you don't want to mess up your pretty little uniform, you wuss." Tristan said, spitefully.

"That's not it at all!"

"Yeah, you want to stay all pretty for your pal in the Puzzle, eh?" Joey mocked.

"It has nothing to do with him!" She glanced sideways at Yuugi. "So… uh… he's not walking with us, is he?"

Yuugi glanced over his shoulder, and my eyes followed but I didn't see anything.

"Yeah." Yuugi said. "He is."

Tea blushed, smoothed the creases in her skirt and tossed her hair.

My eyes narrowed. _Who's he? _I asked myself. _They sure talk about him a lot. _

"What does he think about the food fight?" Joey asked, his eyes glued to the pendant around Yuugi's neck.

Yuugi sighed. "He says we were right to leave when we did."

"Aw, he's just a stick in the mud!" Tristan said.

"I wholeheartedly agree with him." Tea said.

"You would." Yuugi mocked, and glanced over his shoulder again. " And he says we ought to stop talking about him or we're going to look like yo-yos that belong in the loony farm and eat crayons because that's what they give people who talk to themselves."

"He said _that_?" Tristan said, gaping at the pendant.

"No." Yuugi admitted. "I like to paraphrase." He smirked.

"Oh great… look who it is…" Joey said. "What'er'ya lookin at, Kaiba?"

"You make it a habit to listen in on people's conversations?" Tristan yelled.

I felt embarrassed, but I didn't show it. "Not when you're yelling it for the whole world to hear." I say crossly.

Tea crossed her arms. Yuugi pulled back a bit.

"Hey listen guys… he _was _out here first. He hasn't done anything to us… let's just go!" Yuugi said.

I watched them walk away. Tristan and Joey pulled ahead of the group and started talking quietly with each other. Tea strutted right after them careful not to look anywhere but front, as if I was some sort of an eyesore. Yuugi lagged behind.

"Sorry, Kaiba." He said.

"I don't need your help or your pity." I said, furiously. "I can look after myself. Now beat it."

The pendant around his neck glowed almost threateningly, but Yuugi sighed, shook his head, and turned to leave.

A cloud floated in front of the sun, making it bright. Then, suddenly, I saw something in the sunlight. Someone shimmering, semi-transparent. He looked like Yugi almost… but with sharper features. I sat up taller… _This is that "him" they've been talking about_… his large eyes were resting on me. Then he turned in Yugi's direction and said something to him that I couldn't hear. I glanced at Yugi and his eyes were exactly where the "he" is standing. I wasn't crazy! I look back to see if the "he" was still looking at me again, but he was… gone. A cloud had floated in front of the sun again… the light that helped me see was gone.

I looked at Yuugi. He was still looking at that one spot. Yuugi turned to me and I jerked my head to regain my composure and looked at him.

"Y'know Kaiba? If you weren't so mean… maybe you'd have more friends." Yuugi said.

"I don't need friends." I muttered still preoccupied with the "him" I saw.

"Everybody needs friends. Even-" He paused and glanced back to were I knew the "he" to be standing, "kings."

"Kings?" I asked.

"Yeah. I know it sounds corny. I've been saying the same thing for years now."

"Where'd you get 'kings' from?" I said.

"You wouldn't believe me. You never do."

He started to walk away. "Yuugi!" I said suddenly, not realizing what I was doing.

He stopped and turned around. "Yeah?"

"You say everyone needs friends?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe… you want to… come over for dinner tonight. Mokuba's always asking for company and I never get around to asking anyone. I know he likes you. He thinks you're really nice and all…" I felt myself getting jealous and envious of Yugi…

Yuugi grinned. "Sure, Kaiba! I'll be over later."

"When is he going to get here, Seto?" Mokuba asked me.

"I don't know Mokuba. I didn't know five minutes ago and I didn't know ten minutes ago. Though I'm pretty sure we'll know when he gets here."

"Sarcasm not appreciated, Seto."

"I thought I'd try." I said, grinning slightly.

The doorbell rang. I stood up and strode across my freshly waxed floors. I opened the door to see Yugi, in all his short glory, standing on my doorstep, grinning, and holding up a cake pan with the smell of chocolate wafting toward me.

"Sorry I'm so late. My grampa said it'd be more polite if I brought something." Yuugi said, looking around. "Wow… sweet house. It's huge."

"I take it you didn't tell your grandfather where you were going for dinner?" I said, knowing that Mr. Mutou wouldn't be so keen on being polite to me.

"Nah… I told him I was going to eat with someone from school. He thought I was talking about Hanasaki."

"Whatever works, eh?" I said, trying to be polite.

"Yup." He paused and sniffed the air. "Hey! Do I smell hamburgers?" He said, looking around.

"Uh… yeah. I thought I heard you talking to Wheeler and saying it was you favorite food?"

"It sure is!" Yuugi said.

"Well I guess… you wanna come eat or… what?" I said uneasily.

"Yeah!" He said, shoving the cake pan in the hands of my butler who had come to collect Yuugi's jacket and sprinting forward. He stopped, and that, I assumed, was only because he realized he had no idea where he was going. The butler carried the pan to the kitchen.

Then Yuugi looked to his side where no one in particular is standing. _This is what I've been waiting for! _I spun around toward the wall and turned the lights up, all of them as high as they'd go. And I turned back around. "He's" not as clear as he was outside but I could see him again. He's talking silently to Yugi. Then he side glanced toward me and caught my eye and, my heart dropped and my breath quickened, he saw that I could see him.

He jerked his head toward Yuugi and said something, again I can't hear, and disappeared. Yuugi spun around facing me, his eyes wild.

"Yuugi!" I heard Mokuba cry out. Both our heads jerked in Mokuba's direction just in time to see him wrap his arms around Yuugi's waist. "This is so cool! I've wanted a friend over for ages!"

"Yeah…" Yuugi said, distracted. "Cool…"

"Hey Mokuba!" I said, pretending to be cheerful. "Why don't you go check if dessert is done?"

"Alright, and then I'm gonna show Yuugi around, okay?" Mokuba said, practically singing. He sprints out of the room.

Yuugi rounded on me.

"So that's why you invited me over, was it?" Yuugi said, darkly.

"No, listen-"

"No you listen! I don't know what you think you saw but-"

"Shut up for a second!" I cut across him. "First, I wanted to know about that 'him' person you and your friends were talking about. I saw him earlier, but I wasn't sure if I was just seeing things." I stopped, thinking if what the other reason was worth it. I sighed. "Second, I wanted to see if this _friendship _junk your always talking about is worth the hassle."

"You wanted to see…? About friendship?" Yuugi said, dumbfounded. "Why?" He said, suddenly suspicious.

"Look, it doesn't matter…"

Yuugi crossed his arms. "Yeah it does."

"Fine. It's because of Mokuba, okay?"

"Mokuba?"

"Yes. He… really likes you and those dorks you call friends. He thinks you are all… nice. I want to know why I can't be like that too. Mokuba loves you!" I said, each word paining me. What was I doing talking to this kid in front of me, fiddling with the clip that hooked the top of his pendant to the chain? I was talking to Yuugi Mutou , of all people.

"He loves you, too." Yuugi said, impulsively clutching the chain around his neck.

I looked down and contented myself with talking with his shoes. "Feh… he has to! He's my brother, it's natural. He loves you. I mean really. Because of who you are and how you act."

"He loves you, too. I know… it seems tough now… but, he's your kid brother. He knows you'd go to the moon and back for him. I'm just someone in the background… a friend, that's all. I could never replace you… that's what your worried about, isn't it? That Mokuba might put me in your place in his heart? That's it, right?"

How did he know? He read me like a book. I looked at him. Behind him, hardly visible, stood the other Yuugi. He looked at me, hiseyes looking straight into mine. I got the sudden feeling as if I was being x-rayed. This other Yuugi was checking to see if I'm lying… if I was really sincere… if I was truly worried. I blinked, nervously. He looked away, his attention drawn to something else, and I let out a breath of relief. But then I wondered… _what's he looking at?_

I looked behind me and I saw that Mokuba had run back in the room past me and clutched Yuugi's arm. "C'mon! It's still a while until dinner is ready to eat. You wanna tour the house? It's really cool 'cause Seto and me have rooms right next to each other. And there are a bunch if bathrooms with really big Jacuzzi marble bathtubs."

"That sounds like fun…" Yuugi said, gently. He allowed himself to be dragged away with Mokuba, leaving behind the other Yuugi. I got nervous again, not wanting to be tested once more.

His eyes followed Yuugi and Mokuba up the stairs and around the turn, and they lingered on the corner were he vanished. He closed his eyes and turned his head, slowly, in my direction. When he opened his eyes, they were full of… acceptance. He smiled gently at me and I grinned back at him, thankful that he wasn't suspicious anymore. I looked at his eyes again to see what else they might've tell me, but there wasn't anything except a dulled sadness, as if he'd been in pain for a long time and grown used to it, and a bitter-sweet happiness, like he was happy that I was trying to be friends with Yuugi but disappointed in my reason.

Yuugi poked his head around the corner and says specifically to the other Yuugi, "This is cool, you gonna come see?"

I glanced at the other Yuugi, who was looking at Yuugi. He nodded and vanished.

"C'mon Kaiba. You coming?" Yuugi said, cheerfully, as I saw a hardly visible shadow appear behind him.

"Yeah. Coming."

It had been two month's since that night. Two months since that dinner. Two months since I first saw the other Yuugi. I was welcomed into Yuugi's group of friends with no questions asked, which surprised me seeing as how… well… I wasn't the nicest person to them. Yuugi just said "Kaiba's going to be hanging out with us, alright guys?" That was it. Tea now cleared a spot at the table during lunch for me. Tristan punched out people who talked about me behind my back. Joey still started arguments with me just to see how long it would take for me to sigh and give up under the approving eye of Yuugi who grinned and gave me my dollar payment when Joey looked away. The other Yuugi would still appear every now and then, (but I could only see him when it was bright enough outside) and look over they entire group, to make sure we were all okay. It felt as if he were the bodyguard for the whole group.

"So Seto Kaiba!" Yuugi said one day, walking home from school. Joey and Tea were to my left and Yuugi and Tristan were to my right.

"So what, Yuugi?" I said, grinning.

"Is it worth the hassle?"

I thought about it for a while. "Y'know? I think it is. I really do."


End file.
